EMS saves family from CO poisoning

Two Upshur County EMS employees were honored for their quick thinking on a call that saved three people from carbon monoxide poisoning. Pictured, from left, are Gail Dragoo, program director for the W.Va. EMS Technical Service Network; CPR driver Chuck Brown; EMT Billy Alkire; and Upshur County EMS director Rick Campbell.

BUCKHANNON — It was the quick thinking of two Upshur County Emergency Medical Services workers that likely saved the lives of three people on a recent February day.

EMT Billy Alkire and CPR driver Chuck Brown were honored by the West Virginia EMS Technical Support Network on Friday for rescuing three people suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Rick Campbell, Upshur County EMS director, said, “Initially the crew just simply responded for a routine transport of a hospice patient, and it turned into a life-threatening situation.”

Family members had called EMS on Feb. 23 to take a hospice patient to the hospital because they were not able to care for them. What they did not know is the reason they were feeling so sick themselves was the colorless, odorless carbon monoxide gas that had filled up the home.

When Alkire and Brown arrived on scene, they immediately knew something was amiss

For the complete article see the 03-18-2013 issue.

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